Walking to justice with immigrants
As the grandchild and child of immigrants, I have always been pro-immigrant. Until recently, however, my support amounted to a handful of letters to Congressional officials.
Here's what got me more involved: A small group of parishioners at my church decided by consensus to spend a year working on immigration justice. We studied the issue, got to know immigrants in our parish, and arranged for a legal expert to advise immigrants on their rights. These steps gave me firsthand knowledge of the fear and anger directed at immigrants, and acquainted me with others--immigrants and native-born people--who were committed to change.
In February 2009, an Immigrations and Customs Enforcement raid detained a number of parishioners and our community responded with love, money, and time to the plight of the detainees and their families. Many people were eager to help their neighbors but could not get past the buzzwords and stereotypes; as one said, "Don't make this a political issue!" Church teaching is clear on this, but I wondered how to get past the barriers of fear and anger?
My wife proposed a walking pilgrimage to the regional ICE detention center in Tacoma, Washington, a distance of about 140 miles. This struck both of us as a prayerful, creative response to the polarization, anger and fear surrounding immigration reform, so my wife and I began planning our route.
With a small group of fellow JustFaith graduates, we organized and walked the distance, relying on Catholic parishes along our route for food and lodging. At every stop, we conversed with people on both sides of the immigration reform debate. All in all, more than 500 people engaged with us, walking, talking, praying, bringing food and much more. Some began as skeptics but were intrigued enough by our pilgrimage to speak freely and listen with open minds.
All of us pilgrims were changed by their experiences. For me, a profound series of encounters with saints and with Christ in the poor, the marginalized, the undocumented immigrants deepened my commitment to immigration reform and my relationship with God. As I wrote on the blog we kept during the pilgrimage, I became convinced that Jesus walked so much all over Palestine to meet and get to know the people he had come to save.
As we walked, people told me their stories, usually moving tales of struggle. Their faces, gaits, and gestures stick with me, and in my mind's eye I see and hear them walking down the road. Certainly the immigrants I encountered, documented or not, impressed me with their courage, work ethic, and determination. Their stories inspire me now to keep spreading the word about justice for immigrants.
It's easy to turn away from an illegal or undocumented alien, but very difficult to turn away from my companions on the road.
Comments (26)
Open up and listen
By Larry OC (not verified) on Wednesday, February 3, 2010I read this article with appreciation for the author who I have known now for 8 years.I remember the time last summer when this walk was in process. I deeply wanted to participate, not just because I adopted the cause, supporting those detained and being treated poorly in this country I love, but also because I realize how little I truly understand of their plight on the larger stage.
I am taken aback by the venom of the attacks and counter attacks in the commentary here. We are surely a polarized country. Some here see the Reagan/Bush years as the source of our dilemma in this dialog. Others see Obama as a new rush to socialism.
Are any of you recognizing that this article was about none of that? It was about a people who, for non violent, deeply personal reasons, are looking for the "better" that drove ALL of our ancestors to this land. Mostly it's about LISTENING and hearing these marginalized people.
Perhaps we can stop diatribe and participate in hearing, even if for the first time, from those whose lives are spent in detention centers?
Dialogue
By Nick Mele (not verified) on Tuesday, February 2, 2010The ad hominem attacks and name calling in some of the responses are precisely the sort of thing that we hoped to transcend by making a walking pilgrimage. By and large, as we walked, we did break through the buzzwords and false images. To wish to see justice for immigrants is not to be anti-American, but rather to be following Jesus.
Do we have a right as a nation to control our borders? Absolutely, we do. As a retired U.S. diplomat, I was directly involved in protecting those borders for 25 years. Do we have the right to label people who do necessary work for us "criminals"? Maybe under the law of the land, but not under the law of God.
Instead of calling each other names, let's learn the facts and learn about these strangers among us. For example, growers and farmers we met repeatedly told us that although the government considers farm workers unskilled labor, they possess unique and hard to find skills. Yet very few visas, numbered in the thousands last year, were issued to farm workers, out of a total of about 6 million visas issued. Maybe through dialogue and cooperation we can achieve the kind of security everyone wants for this nation.
Larry OC spent 25 years defending our borders
By Anonymous (not verified) on Thursday, February 4, 2010Larry,
I do not know what you did as a "diplomat" but our borders have not been well defended. We all see the poverty around the world and work to help the poor. Our parish has spent 10 years+ helping people in Haiti and elsewhwere. However, we still have a problem with illegals entering the US. Sections of Arizona and Texas are riddled with crime from kidnapping-for-ransom to rape, theft and murder.
We need to hold the countries of origin responsible for their own people. I believe that we actually facilitate and enable countries to continue the corruption and exploitation of their own people---which forces those people to seek illegal entry into the US.
I do not know where Larry did his "diplomatic" service but the European and Asian Countries where I lived and worked would not allow this illegal onslaught.
I know many who serve the poor in Latin America--where they live---in order to help them thrive where they live and seek better support from their own governments.
Thanks, Tom
So you are rational...
By Jerry D (not verified) on Wednesday, February 3, 2010...As evident in my posts, all I ask is the acknowledge some of regulaton.
Many of these workers may not be "necessary." If you pay an American enough, he'll pick strawberries and develop necessary skills. That is why Cesar Chavez marched with Walter Mondale to the Mexican border to protest illegal immigration.
If the cost of American workers prices out strawberries, you need other options: 1) Grow produce requiring less labor. 2) Develop machinery to replace labor. 3) Grant Visas to migrant workers.
If health insurance is not provided to migrants, taxpayers are essentially subsidizing foreign workers to replace American workers. However, that subsidy may be viewed as essentially foreign aid stablilizing Mexico in the USA's interest.
I advocate amnesty for stable (two parent, once married) hard working illegal alien families that would be a blessing to America. Those who support "comprehensive reform" want amnesty and immediate welfare for virtually all criminal aliens and seriously dysfuntional "families." As Jim posts, America is stolen land, so America has no right to regulate borders.
JerryD-why can't you speak for yourself?
By Jim (not verified) on Monday, February 8, 2010"Those who support "comprehensive reform" want amnesty and immediate welfare for virtually all criminal aliens and seriously dysfuntional "families." As Jim posts, America is stolen land, so America has no right to regulate borders."
It is wrong to put words in other people's mouths. If you need clarification, or want additional explanation, then ask.
Another option
By Jim (not verified) on Monday, February 8, 2010"If the cost of American workers prices out strawberries, you need other options: "
Why not raise the price of strawberries? Consumers pay extra for brand names all the time-chiquita bananas, dole pineapples, peter pan peanut butter. Why isn't the anti-immigrant movement doing what the organic foods activists and kosher certification organizations have been doing for years-certify farmers as complying with their standards and alerting consumers about non-compliance. Farmers who comply would be able to add a price premium. More Americans would be employed at living wages, employers would be punished by the marketplace for non-compliance. What's not to like?
Detention Centers
By n8whit (not verified) on Monday, February 1, 2010The best way to avoid being locked up is to not break the law in the first place. Don't break into our country and you will not be arrested.
What if I broke into your home (looking for a better life for me and my children). Would that give me a right to stay in your house? Then on top of that, what if I demanded that you educate my children, pay for our health care, protect us, feed us and so on? You would think I was crazy! You would call the police to have me arrested and deported from your property. Would you care if I claimed it was to better my children’s future?
What if I came in and undercut your legal wages by having an employer hire me for slave wages, and not pay taxes and government fees on my wages, which ultimately cost you your job because I was so cheap to hire? And then the government told you, “Hey it was a job Americans wouldn’t do anyways” when the truth is, it was a job your employer wouldn’t pay the legal wages for an American to do.
I am not anti anything. Just want the country to enforce it’s very basic immigration laws so all Americans have a fair chance to feed their families with livable wages.
Quit complaining and Organize
By Jim (not verified) on Tuesday, February 2, 2010"Don't break into our country and you will not be arrested."
What Indian tribe are you a member of? Are you suggesting that the 300 million US citizens who broke into this country should be deported? That's just crazy. And, it just isn't going to happen. Deal with it.
"What if I came in and undercut your legal wages by having an employer hire me for slave wages"
I sincerely doubt that anyone can force an employer to hire them. Employers are happy to pay the least for the most. Your beef isn't with illegal immigrants-it's with the employers. And, it's with the American consumer-when giving a choice of similar products, we choose the cheapest.
If you want to find somebody to blame for the illiegal immigration problem, you may look closer to home. Then join or start a labor union, buy local, buy American.
Class Hatred and Hatred of Ameica.
By Jerry D (not verified) on Tuesday, February 2, 2010"Employers are happy to pay the least for the most. Your beef isn't with illegal immigrants-it's with the employers."
- In economics, everyone tries to cut the best deal. If employers turn away people with brown skin that present a social security card that appears valid, they risk being sued and labeled racist. The problem lies with government regulation. I thank God for employers.
"it's with the American consumer-when giving a choice of similar products, we choose the cheapest."
- Q: Why pick on Americans? Economics decisions apply to all people, not just America.
A: The Left hate what America is and love it to the extent they want to better it by fundamentally transforming it into a socialistic society. It's like the love a prison minister has for a rapist trying to rehabilitate him in the hope he is transformed when released from prison.
Utopia does not exists. Europe, with personal and societal achievement being destroyed by socialism, is not utopia. Bigger government has made smaller citizens who are more likely to put in minimum effort to get guaranteed wages and have self absorbed attitudes leading to Europe's demographic suicide.
